This invention relates to skis, and in particular to a device for carrying a pair of skis safely and easily in a vertical position behind one""s back.
Carrying skis can be very awkward since a skier must hold the skis together using both hands. Additionally, such a method of carrying the skis can be dangerous since the skier may be walking over slippery ice surfaces and can fall and injure themselves. These problems can be further compounded, particularly in crowded areas.
Proposals have been made over the years for contraptions to make it easier to carry skis. However, many of these devices have the drawback of holding the skis in a horizontal direction, which is inherently clumsy. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,927 to Rosenthal and U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,835 to Hogan each describe ski equipment carrying straps and ties that force the user to carry the skis in horizontal position which requires the user to use at least one and sometimes both hands.
Other proposals have been made over the years for allowing skis to be carried vertically behind one""s back. U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,838 to Knauf, U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,875 to Smart et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,347 to Wilhite; U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,336 to Palz; U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,209 to Rader et al.; 5,450,991 to Neading; U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,803 to Tacoronte; and Great Britain patent 2,182,238 to Jordan each describe carriers for skis and poles having an elongated strap with ends that loop about opposite ends of a pair of skis where the elongated strap can be slung over a carrier""s shoulders. However, these sling arrangements would be both awkward and uncomfortable since the skis would directly abut against and even bang up against the back of the user especially while the user is walking. Additionally, these slings would generally have a single height position when different sized skiers, and different sized skis are being used.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,982 to Hall requires a separate rigid backpack for being attached to the skis and poles. Besides, requiring the extra backpack, this device has further problem of needing a secure site to store the rigid backpack while the user is skiing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,118 to Kronz describes an elaborate crossed back strap apparatus for holding skis that would appear to be difficult to both put on and take off.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,842 to requires the pole tips to support the skis while the poles are held on the shoulder, which would clearly be a dangerous hazard to the skier carrying the skis since the poles stick out in front of the person carrying the skis.
Another problem with most of the above shoulder supported devices is that those devices continuously press into the shoulder(s) of the user further adding discomfort to the user.
Other patents of interest that fail to overcome the above problems include U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,608 to Smyth which describes a locking device which is used to fasten skis together in a locking position and generally requires their cable be fastened to some permanent unmoveable object, and does not describe any application for using the cable for carrying the skis. U.S. Pat. No. 1,405,052 to Maher describes a lumber sling for wrapping about a lumber type object and supporting the object by one end of a sling, and does not describe any application for carrying skis. Additionally, using Maher to carry skis would be at least as awkward and uncomfortable as the over the shoulder sling patents described above. The Maher device would carry longitudinal bundles in a horizontal position as shown by the lumber arrangement shown in FIG. 2, and trying to use the Maher sling over one""s shoulder would cause the carried object to abut against and bang against one""s back while the user is walking. U.S. Pat. No. 2,508,795 to Nielsen describes a mattress harness that does not describe any application for carrying skis, and would not overcome the deficiencies to the other prior art references described above.
The first objective of this invention is to provide a device for carrying skis behind one""s back in a safe and easy vertical arrangement.
The second objective of this invention to provide a device for carrying skis behind one""s back where the skis do not press against and bang up against the back of the user while the user is walking.
The third objective of this invention is to provide a device for carrying skis in a vertical position behind one""s back where the skis hang away from the back of the user.
The fourth objective of this invention is to provide a device for carrying skis in a vertical position behind one""s back where the weight of the skis is not completely supported by the shoulder of the user.
The fifth objective of this invention is to provide a device for carrying skis in a vertical direction behind one""s back where the user can vary the height of the carried skis with one hand during transport.
The sixth objective of this invention is to provide a device for carrying skis in a vertical direction behind one""s back where the user can vary the weight of the carried skis with one hand during transport.
The seventh objective of this invention is to provide a device for both carrying skis in a vertical direction behind one""s back and also use the device to lock the skis together.
The eighth objective of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive device for carrying skis in a vertical position behind one""s back that can be easily carried in one""s pocket while not being used.
The ninth objective of this invention. is to provide a device for carrying skis in a vertical direction behind""s one""s back having an adjustable positioned pad for preventing any discomfort from the device pressing into the shoulder of the user.
A carrying device for holding and locking skis includes a main line with a first looped end and a second looped end opposite to the first looped end, a second line with a first end being fixably attached to a mid-section of the main line approximately midway between the first looped end and the second looped end, the second line having an exterior looped end opposite to the first end. The device is used with a pair of skis stacked bottom to bottom to one another, the skis having a rear end adjacent to foot bindings and an upper tip end opposite the rear end. In use the first looped end of the main line is slipped over the rear end of the pair of the skis to the foot bindings and the second line is wrapped about the pair of the skis above the foot bindings with the second looped end of the main line passing through the exterior looped end of the second line so that a portion of the main line adjacent to the second looped end can rest and be supported on a shoulder of a user and be held in place by a hand of the user holding the second looped end as a handle while the pair of the skis is supported in a vertical position behind and separated away from a back of the user, wherein the main line becomes a cushion between the skis the back of the user. The hand of the user can be moved up and down raising and lowering the vertical position of the stacked skis. An adjustably positioned shoulder pad can be used on the main line so that the device does not press into the shoulder of the user and instead adds to the comfort of the user.
The first and the second lines can be a cable, cord, a strap, and the like. The first loop, the second loop and the exterior loop can be attached to their respective lines by crimped sleeves such as crimped metal sleeves.
The device can be further used as a lock where the shoulder positioned looped end is wrapped about a ski rack, pole, and the like, and locked to the second line looped end with a padlock.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.